Simon and the Beast

Throughout this story Simon took a Christ figure. Simon was the only one who kept all of his humane qualities. Simon is like Christ, whether its making a prediction (Jesus was a prophet) or helping out the unfortunate (Piggy and the litluns).
The Beast took the figure of evil. Its not that the Beast was real, but everyone of the boys had a beast (evil) inside of them.

The meeting of Piggy and the Beast is similar to that of Jesus and the Devil. Jesus had been tempted by the devil many times yet Jesus had the will to resist. In this section, the Beast attempted to get Simon to give up hope and forget everything he believed in. "I'm warning you. I'm going to get angry. D'you see? You're not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island! So don't try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else--" This is just one of the few ways the Beast attempted to berate Simon. Like Jesus, Simon kept on his way. I assume that this will not be the only relation to the bible left in this book.

The Loss of Civilization - Lord of the Flies

"What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What's grownups going to think? Going off--hunting pigs--letting out fires--and now!"

A shadow fronted him tempestuously.

"You shut up, you fat slug!" 

There was a moment's struggle and the glimmering conch jigged up and down. Ralph leapt to his feet.

"Jack! Jack! You haven't got the conch! Let him speak."

Jack's face swam near him. 

"And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing--"

"I'm chief. I was chosen."

"Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don't make any sense--"

"Piggy's got the conch."

"That's right--favor Piggy as you always do--"

"Jack!"

Jack's voice sounded in bitter mimicry."

"Jack! Jack!"

"The rules!" shouted Ralph, "You're breaking the rules!"

"Who cares?"

Ralph summoned his wits.

"Because the rules are all we've got!"

In this passage you can see Ralph clinging to the only human nature they have left. Ralph like Piggy is trying to keep order within the boys. Ralph knows that if they keep going on like this, they will lose all of their humane qualities and it will be mayhem. Along with their human characteristics, the boys are losing their intelligence. Ralph knows that most of the boys' human values have left them, so now more than ever he believes that rules are important to survive with each other. It seems as though Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are the only one with their humane qualities in check. I assume that it will not be this way for long faced with a time of struggle.

Ch. 3 - Lord of the Flies

In this chapter the boys are beginning to lose order. They are losing their sense of civilization, everyone runs wild and no one follows instructions."Jack was bent double. He was bent down like a sprinter, his nose only a few inches from the human earth." This quote shows the deterioration of human characteristics and transforming them into animal-like ones. Jack has not yet made his first kill, but he will soon be bloodthirsty enough and once that comes he will be on a rampage. Ralph realizes that Piggy had been right and he wants to start building shelters. It seems that Ralph was the only one working the whole day. Everyone else had been off bathing, exploring, or eating. Ralph became frustrated even with Jack, who was hunting with his group all day and ended up with nothing.

Simon was off in his own world in this passage. He would wander off into the jungle and explore without the notice of anyone else. It seems that Simon may know more than the rest of the group. I believe that Simon had befriended Piggy because they had been outsiders. I relate Simon to Simon Birch, an intelligent young boy to had been misfourtuned yet he had a good heart and always did what was right.

Ch. 2 - Lord of the Flies

The boys on the island attempted to start a fire on top of the mountain and use the smoke to signal for help. In result the forest started on fire and burned down the forest, but one man had known what was going to happen. Piggy. The group hadn't wanted to listen to what Piggy wanted to say about the situation. Piggy's idea was to make shelter and fires on the beach, but instead the forest burned down and the wood supply is low.

I feel for Piggy in this chapter because his input is clearly more valuable than anyone elses, yet he is not allowed to share his input. He now has to suffer from the result of the groups decision. I wonder why the group has not yet realized his intelligence. They will soon have to listen and value his opinions if they want to survive on this island.

Lord of the Flies Ch.1

The story starts off when two boys, Piggy and Ralph meet. Piggy is an overweight child with glasses, while Ralph is a good looking and fit kid. The name Piggy comes is a name kids called him at school. It seems as though Piggy has had a rough life, from being bullied to the death of his parents. Piggy does not appreciate the nickname, but Ralph takes no mercy. Ralph's father is in the Navy, and Ralph thinks that he will save them. Piggy's intelligence shines right away, when they find a seashell and they decide to blow into it to summon the other boys on the island. "We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting," is what Piggy had stated when they found the conch. After everyone was summoned, the meeting was held. They decided to choose a leader, Ralph was chosen. Jack, who is top dawg in the choir, wanted to be leader; but instead only commands the choir. Jack, Ralph, and Simon went off to explore the rest of the island, while they made Piggy stay back and collect names. On the voyage Jack had missed a kill on a piglet. I believe that Jack was not ready to take the life of something living and see the flesh tear. Jack vowed that he would not miss his next kill.

I believe the setting of this story is on an island by the way the autor has described the contour of the land along with all of the reefs along the beach. The imagery used gives the reader a good image of a tropical island. By the vocabulary used by the kids, you can infer that they come from a region/country in Europe.

A few questions popped up while I was reading. I wondered how the kids survived but the plane was in scraps. Along with the fact that no adults had survived the plane crash.